Taking control: Walks, wind bury White Sox as Cubs win seventh straight in City Series
Maybe we'll know the White Sox are on the right track when they finally find a way to beat the Cubs.
It didn't happen Saturday, as the Cubs used another big second inning to produce a 7-3 victory at Wrigley Field. The Cubs have won seven straight in the City Series, the longest win streak on either side of town.
“I was unaware of that but definitely take pride in it,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “Just playing every game hard and giving our fans something to be excited about.”
There was plenty going on in this one. Sox rookie shortstop Chase Meidroth his first home run on the third pitch of the game, and Tim Elko later belted his second MLB home run. The Cubs piled up 6 stolen bases. The White Sox had another wind-aided misplay, this time by right fielder Joshua Palacios.
Ultimately, the story of this game was the two starting pitchers. For the Cubs, lefty Matthew Boyd has endured some disappointing seasons and Tommy John surgery in 2023, but he emerged as Mr. Consistency at age 34.
For the ninth time in nine starts this season, Boyd (4-2) gave up 3 earned runs or less. For the third straight start, a span of 18 innings, he walked nobody. After the game he brought his two young sons into the interview room and they reacted like it was their first trip to Disney World.
“I'm very grateful,” Boyd said. “There's a gratitude that you're playing a game for a job, to be able to do it in the Cubs organization and at Wrigley Field is something amazing, to be able to share this with my kids and family. It's something we're very, very grateful for and it's very special.”
The Seattle-area native has sort of a gee-whiz, friendly attitude that has already gained popularity inside the Cubs clubhouse.
“He's a starting pitcher that you kind of feel his energy every day around the field, which isn't always true for guys that play once every five days,” Hoerner said of Boyd. “It's just cool how quickly he's become a big part of this group.”
Boyd admitted he didn't have his best stuff Saturday but credited catcher Miguel Amaya for finding a way around it with some creative pitch calls. He ended up using five pitches a decent amount.
On the other side was White Sox rookie Sean Burke. He hit 97 mph with his fastball, struck out the side in the first inning, but gave up 5 walks. Two of the batters he walked came around to score in the Cubs' 4-run second inning.
After the game Burke talked about trying to get his delivery back in sync. After a rough April (7.70 ERA), he'd pitched well in May (1.10 ERA), but also walked five in his previous start against Miami.
“It was awful, it was terrible,” Burke said of his control. “I thought my last two starts have been terrible. I can't go out there and walk 5 people and expect to have good results.
“The stuff was fine. I really don't even think they put too many good swings on the ball other than that Dansby Swanson home run. I'm just making it hard on myself by walking guys.”
Overall, White Sox pitchers combined for 11 walks, while the Cubs allowed just one. Amaya and Pete Crow-Armstrong each delivered 2-run singles in the second inning, Swanson homered in the fifth to make it 5-3, the windblown Vidal Brujan double tacked on another run, then Hoerner added an RBI single after a pair of walks in the eighth.
“That's what offense is, right?” Swanson said. “There's so many different ways to be able to score runs, so many ways to make pitchers work. Some days it's slug, some days it's paper cuts, some days it's walks and stolen bases. Really just taking whatever opportunities are in front of us.”
The next opportunity for the Cubs is to run the win streak to eight by sweeping the series Sunday. The White Sox will have to do better with walks and wind.